Bill Russell, a player for the Boston Celtics as well as the first player coach in Boston Sports history and the first African - American to manage full-time in any major league sport, visited Rollins College in March of 1970. On his visit he spoke at the fieldhouse concerning issues such as the draft, the drug problem, law and order, and pollution. He said: "This is a great, great country... it can be even greater... for this country to be as great as it can be I would die."